Spanish steelmakers are asking for more compensation for indirect carbon costs, the extra expenses that show up on electricity bills because power producers pass on EU ETS allowance prices. The sector argues that without stronger support, domestic mills lose ground to producers outside the bloc that do not face the same carbon price. The request lands in a familiar policy squeeze. Paying more to industry protects jobs and energy-intensive production, but it also weakens the price signal that is supposed to push factories toward cleaner processes. The outcome depends on how Spain and the EU define which sectors are exposed and how the compensation is funded. Anyone tracking industrial decarbonization or carbon market design should watch how this gets resolved. It sets a precedent for other energy-intensive industries facing the same gap between climate ambition and competitiveness.
